NATCHEZ — The term “Lady Rebels” no longer refers to just the ACCS girls basketball, softball and track teams.

A fourth Lady Rebel group has joined the athletic ranks at ACCS, and these girls are just now kicking off their season.

The new ACCS girls soccer team has now played three games in its inaugural year. Although the Lady Rebels are 0-3 to start the season, head coach Jim Allgood said the attitude has been fantastic.

“It’s been all smiles and happiness. The kids are learning a new sport with all of them getting to participate,” Allgood said.

After starting off with only exhibition games last year, Allgood said he was able to form a solid core of girls interested in playing soccer at ACCS.

“Last year we played some local schools in strictly exhibition settings to make sure the interest level was truly here,” Allgood said.

“We originally had 42 girls sign up for soccer, and we now have 25 for a full high school and junior varsity squad.”

After a 20-0 loss to former overall champion Lamar School Center in game one, and a 15-0 defeat against Laurel Christian in game two, the Lady Rebels showed some improvement in game three Wednesday.

The Lady Rebels lost to Central Hinds 6-0, but Allgood said there were several positives to take away from the game.

“We have had many girls step up and become better in the last six weeks,” Allgood said.

“Our defense is getting better. We’re beginning to understand that you can’t just leave shooters open, you have to cover them in what we call man-to-man defense.”

Sophomore Mollie Simpson, who transferred to ACCS this year from Monterey, said she decided to play soccer for her first time as soon as she knew Allgood was coaching.

“He and my daddy have been best friends since they were younger,” Simpson said.

And Simpson scored ACCS’ first ever goal in a JV game in a 4-1 loss to Lamar School Center.

“I couldn’t play the first two quarters because I had a big blister on my heel. You could actually see inside my heel,” she said.

“I almost cried because I couldn’t play, and I wasn’t going to stick around if I couldn’t go in. So I taped it up and went in, and scored.”

Even with the improvements on defense, Allgood said his player still have to improve if they want to break away and start scoring goals on the varsity level.

“We have to learn to dribble and maintain control with both feet. We also have to pass better and work on our communication skills,” Allgood said.